30 years ago

Back in 1982, after the birth of my son, I got pretty thin. I hadn't changed anything but the weight just dropped off after having him. It was really nice because I always battled weight and always needed to lose a few pounds. I got down to about 118 which is the lightest I'd been since 7th grade. The reason I share this is that since then I have learned that it is really common for our thyroid's to go "whacko" after having a baby. At this time I believe I must have been "hyperthyroid" I will later post some information about this. Then in 1984, after the birth of my only daughter Nicole, I made a visit to the ER. Nicole was losing lots of weight and they told me to stop nursing her. They also told me to see my doctor. I was feeling really tired all the time and I specifically remember sitting on the couch and thinking about all the things I needed to do and not being able to move! Now this was back in the "OLD" days where you had just one doctor who did everything, especially in a little town called Hermiston, OR. My main complaints to him were, lack of energy, not being able to lose pregnancy weight, hot and cold flashes, and depression. He decided to test my thyroid. After several radically different test results, showing "hyper", "hypo", back and forth, he sent me to the hospital for testing. Now this was a LONG time ago so I don't have the greatest memory of what went on. I do remember them giving me some sort of radiation and body scan which showed that my thyroid wasn't working at all. So the doctor put me on thyroid medication. I have been on this ever since and my levels have been monitored regularly. They have had to adjust it a little now and then.